Our readings in this series are from the book, Understanding the Times Here is a brief excerpt from pages 10 and 11:
“We could easily get the impression, in this increasingly secular age, that people are no longer interested in God or spiritual things. But that simply is not the case. For all the secular hype in schools, the media, and throughout our culture, most people still believe in God, and many describe themselves as ‘spiritual’ but not ‘religious.’
“Which means there’s no reason inherent in our times why we should not try to engage people in conversation about spiritual matters. Many people today are like those ancient Athenians. They are eclectic in their approach to life, and open to hearing new things, even things that seem strange to their ears. The challenge to us is twofold: to express the new life we have in Jesus Christ in ways that convey the hope we have in Him, and to talk about that new life without sounding out of touch or irrelevant to the people to whom God sends us.
“We need to rethink our ideas about the work of evangelism. The people of our secular age are willing to talk and open to hearing what we believe. The onus is on us to let our speech be so gracious and edifying that we earn the right to be heard. We can learn much about how to capitalize on people’s interest in spiritual things by looking at Paul.”
Right now you can order Understanding the Times in book or PDF format at no cost. Order copies for yourself and for a study group or companion.
